Posted: 16 June 2019 at 2:36am | IP Logged | 5
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The fact that Greg asks us for our favorite Rogues Galleries makes this a more subjective exercise than if he'd asked us which were actually the best or most formidable.
I have an enormous amount of affection for Superman's villains, having grown up reading their stories. I find their motivations varied and their backgrounds diverse and interesting. I like those characters overall, whereas Spidey's, despite their general inventiveness and slick appearances, mostly leave me cold. Most of them just wanna kill the webhead, so who cares? Not me.
There is a story with the Vulture I recall fondly, and I remember liking the Lizard on more than one occasion, but Doc Ock, Kraven, and co...? Couldn't care less. I've read their stories since and am familiar with them. I appreciate an in-character appearance by them vs. a more fly-by-night, seat-of-the-pants one, but still, by and large, I don't like them and don't care about them.
Same goes for most FF foes. Annihilus. Blastarr. Gaudy designs, absent any real charm or subtlety. They just... blow stuff up and hate the FF. Big whoop. Gimme a well-imagined Mr. Mxyzptlk story with a charming set-up and clever twist at the end over all that bombast and thin-to-thick force lines radiating outwards from a central sound effect. Oh, hey, someone zapped Johnny. I wonder if he'll... yawn... be okay.
Don't get me wrong. I like Johnny just fine. Ben, too. I especially like Ben, in fact. But I really don't care who they're fighting this month. There never seems to be any "there" there, Doc Doom notwithstanding. And Galactus is interesting. But Gideon? The Invincible Man? The Mad Thinker? Whatever, guys...
I have enormous affection for Dick Tracy's Rogues. I just got into them as a kid and the fact that my dad read them back in the day made them extra-special. Do I think Influence or 88 Keys could take Torgo the wrestling robot or even the Creature From the Lost Lake and his bride? No, but they do seem like far better characters. I like reading about them more. They seem somehow genuinely relevant and seedy rather than, y'know, cosmic or malevolent. You might run into someone like them. Hell, I've worked for people like them.
So... I'm not on board with arguments like "The Green Goblin could finger-laser the Joker to death from far away, so the Joker just sucks!" By and large, the Green Goblin is kind of, well, dumb. Just really a walking case of convenient amnesia waiting to kick in for the first few years, and now? He's just a by-the-numbers corporate moron. "Lookit 'im sneer! Dontcha just hate that guy?" Not really. I barely care that he's there at all.
I still like the Green Goblin, mainly because I had his Comic Action Hero way back when. Of Spidey's foes, I might like him better than the Vulture or Lizard. But he's not a favorite character overall. Cool visual. Really nice Mego figure. Key player in the whole Gwen Stacy story. Not much else.
So... with the understanding then that I'm listing personal favorites and not pre-eminent literary achievements or super-charged "my guys can beat up your guys" contenders...
1.) Superman's Rogues Gallery 2.) The Flash's. 3.) Batman's. 4.) Dick Tracy's. 5.) Captain Marvel's. (Sorry, "Shazam's" for you ahistoric, illiterate youngster-types.)
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